


You Like Me (I Like You)

by Torontok



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/M, Fem Kyungsoo, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 13:54:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9551840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torontok/pseuds/Torontok
Summary: Luhan has a not so subtle crush on the new exchange student.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Initially written for the_resolver as part of the Knot of Love exchange back in 2015. I'm finally getting around to writing part 2

Luhan cranes his neck, rising on his tiptoes to see over the heads of waiting families at the bustling airport terminal, and wrenching his head back to narrowly avoid having his eye poked out by an overexcited Aunty’s umbrella. From behind him he hears Yifan snort and he turns to glare at the other man. Yifan is lounging comfortably against a concrete pillar, his gigantic frame letting him see over the crowd with ease. “Relax, they haven’t come out yet.” He smirks at Luhan. “You’re a teenager with a crush.Don’t worry, I’m sure your pretty little pen pal made it fine.”

“Shut up, I just want to make sure he doesn’t miss the sign.” Luhan moves to avoid knocking into a small child with his sign and Kris gives him a blank look. “Luhan, you’re carrying a posterboard with lime green letters.Astronauts could probably see your sign.”

Okay, so maybe Luhan _had_ overdone it a bit with the sign but the gold glitter had been on sale and Luhan’s mother had taught him to appreciate a bargain.He chooses to ignore Kris, turning his head back to stare at the terminal. Kris spots them before he does, tugging Luhan closer to him and holding up his own sign, a modest piece of printer paper with “DO K.S” written in large black letters. Luhan raises his too, feeling a small flutter of excitement go through him as he sees people start filtering out through the doors, some of them breaking away to shyly bow at Luhan's classmates, all of whom are holding up their own signs.A petite girl with long dark hair and big eyes breaks away and starts walking towards him.Luhan tries not to drop the sign in his nervousness.He hadn't imagined that his pen pal would be a girl but he doesn't mind. Except the tiny girl pushes right past him and stops in front of Yifan.Luhan snorts as he watches Yifan fumble into a bow, tips of his ears red as the girl returns the gesture, introducing herself as Do Kyungsoon. They move away to start loading her luggage into the school van and Luhan turns back to face the terminal.

There's just one person left standing, head bowed as they inspect their ticket and Luhan raises his sign again, hoping to catch their attention.The person looks up and starts, jaw dropping as he gapes at Luhan (or rather the brilliant aesthetics of his signboard) before he starts to laugh, eyes crinkling into tiny crescents as a small, pink hand comes up to cover his mouth.  
Luhan knows right then and there that he is doomed

Kim Minseok, as the tiny exchange student introduces himself, keeps Luhan's sign pinned to the corkboard in his room, despite Luhan's repeated pleas for him to throw it out.Soon it is flanked by other mementos, Polaroids taken at The Forbidden City, his arms around Luhan's mother at the Great Wall, receipts from the movie theatre trip where they take the Koreans students to see a subtitled wu xia film.Luhan likes scanning the board whenever Minseok let’s him into the room, although he notes with some displeasure that he doesn’t feature heavily on it.In contrast, there’s an entire corner that’s taken up solely with selfies Zitao had forced Minseok to take with him

He had hoped that the easy camaraderie he and Minseok had built up over emails in the months prior to the latter coming to China would translate from writing to real life. In actuality, he finds Minseok reticent, preferring to listen and observe quietly during class discussions, rarely speaking unless addressed.Even when he does warm up to some of their other classmates, he is awkward around Luhan and it frustrates the other boy to no end as he tries to get Minseok to open up to him. There are times he thinks he’s succeeded, late at night when they stay up in the living room to watch Champion’s League matches, Minseok leaning into his side as he points out players, their fingers brushing as they reach for the chips at the same time.Afterwards though, Minseok pulls away again, ducking his head shyly and reverting back to his monosyllabic replies when Luhan tries to talk to him.Luhan can’t hide his growing frustration, especially when he sees how comfortable the rest of his classmates already are with their exchange students.Hell, if even Yifan, bumbling fool that he is, can win over Kyungsoon then there is no feasible reason that Luhan with his superior intellect and looks can’t do so with Minseok.But it’s been three weeks and so far:bupkis

“Maybe you’re coming off a bit too strong?”Yifan suggests as they watch Minseok join another group of students at their lunch table, seemingly ignoring Luhan’s frantic attempts at waving him over to sit with them. “Tone it down a bit, you’re probably scaring the poor boy.”

“If I “tone it down” then he completely ignores me.” Luhan bites into a carrot despondently, eyes straying over to where Minseok is joking with the other students, his adorable gummy smile on display and no, Luhan is not jealous of the fact that it’s Zitao who’s drawing it out as he snuggles into Minseok’s side, begging him in heavily accented Korean to buy him more jello.No, Luhan is calm.

“Luhan, are you trying to make carrot puree?” Yifan sounds alarmed and Luhan belatedly realises that he’d been squeezing the bejesus out of his poor vegetable.He lets go of it, wiping his hand off on the napkin. “It’s nothing.”

He can tell even without looking up that Yifan is doing his weird sympathetic face, the one he usually reserves for one Luhan gets stuck with babysitting duty or bets his life savings on Man U. Luhan wants to punch it off his face yet, at the same time, it feels good to have someone feel sorry for him.

“Maybe,” Yifan suggests tone contemplative. “It’s a status thing?”

Luhan peeks up at him. “I don’t think so? I mean, we’re a mixed status group, why would he be intimidated by that?”

“Well, Soo was telling me-” Yifan gets this ridiculously fond look on his face at the nickname and Luhan wants to shove a carrot stick up his nose. “that Koreans are a bit stricter about inter status mingling, especially for unmated teens.They have segregated classes from middle school till college.Even then it’s considered sketchy if an alpha is friends with an omega or something like that.Maybe you’re coming off a bit too intimidating and he’s not used to it.”

Luhan frowns, turning to glance back at Minseok. “But Minseok’s a beta.And Chen is an alpha and Minseok has no problem being around him.” They both watch as Chen prods at Minseok’s mouth with a dumpling until the other relents and lets himself be fed. Yifan looks apologetic. “Maybe it’s just how it is.Sometimes you just don’t mesh as well with people in real life as you do online.”

Luhan stares at the remain of his lunch and tries to ignore the disappointment weighing him down.

  
***  


The entire class has been anticipating the trip to the Miaofeng mountains, an opportunity for a weekend of fun at a resort with minimal teacher supervision.The entire week had been spent conferring over what to pack, who to room with and, most importantly, how to smuggle in alcohol. Despite all of them being legal, their university had a strict dry policy for class trips, not that it was ever enforced well.Luhan joins in on the preparations, albeit a bit mutedly given that he’s the only one who isn’t rooming with his host student.Minseok had smiled apologetically while explaining that Yixuan had already asked him.It’s not like they’re required to room together so Luhan pastes on a smile, assuring Minseok it’s no trouble at all. Yifan gives him a sympathetic pat on the back, himself a little miffed since Kyungsoon will be rooming separately from him.It’s small consolation when Luhan sees them pressed close together, Kyungsoon poring over a brochure and pointing out things she wants to see, squeezing his arm whenever she gets particularly excited. It makes Luhan want to coo, And maybe cry.

The night before the trip, he’s in the midst of packing.Which for him, consists of shoving whatever clothes seem clean enough into a duffel, only taking minimal care to ensure his toiletries don’t spill all over the place.He’s in the midst of sniffing a hoodie for cleanliness analysis when there’s a soft knock on his door.He mumbles out an answer and Minseok peeks his head in. “Hey, I was wondering what you wanted to order for dinner?”

Luhan hums noncommittally as he shoves his hoodie into the duffel.His parents had taken advantage of the weekend trip to go visit some old friends in another city and the two of them are in charge of their own food for the next week. “Pizza maybe? I don’t feel like doing dishes.”

Minseok doesn’t reply and Luhan looks back to see the shorter man staring at his duffel in horror. “You call that _packing?_ ”

Luhan squares his shoulders, defensive. “It’ll all get worn in the end anyways.”

Minseok shakes his head before walking over and seating himself on the bed. “You go order, I’ll try to fix this mess.” He waves off Luhan’s protests, focusing instead on folding his t-shirts into perfect squares.He has small hands, Luhan notes as he dials the number of the pizzeria. Small and pink with slender fingers that are surprisingly capable as he works through the contents of Luhan’s bag, shaking his head at the disarray.Luhan is too absorbed in watching Minseok fold his pants to notice that the person at the end of the line has been yelling for his attention for a good two minutes.

They eat together on the his bedroom floor, Minseok loading up the newest episode of some drama he’s been watching.Luhan can barely follow the plot but it’s okay watching Minseok nibble on his crust, eyes wide when the lead character’s mother starts yelling.He notices Luhan staring, peeking up at him. “Is there something on my face?” Flustered, Luhan shakes his head and goes back to his own slice.The episode ends and Minseok suggests they go to bed, they’ll be waking up early to get to the bus anyways.

Luhan is shaken awake by him the next morning, blinking up at Minseok with bleary eyes. Minseok’s touch is hot against his skin and Luhan moans softly, turning his head to the side. “Is it time?”

“Yeah, you have an hour or so to get ready and get to the terminal.” Minseok’s voice is raspy, his Mandarin syllables slurred.Luhan frowns, sitting up. Minseok is flushed red, eyes drooping and he’s swaying from side to side. Immediately concerned, he reaches for Minseok’s arm, shocked at how warm he is. “Are you okay?”

Minseok nods before pausing and shaking his head.”I feel feverish. I don’t think I can go on the trip.” His knees give way then and Luhan catches him awkwardly rearranging them so that Minseok is sprawled out on the bed,legs akimbo.He presses his hand to Minseok’s forehead, confirming the other boy’s statement. “You stay here, I’ll get you some medicine.” 

Minseok grabs his arm when he tries to get off the bed, shaking his head. “No, it’ll take too long, you’ll miss the bus.” Luhan scoffs, hunting for his shoes. “Like hell I’m going to leave you alone when you’re like this.” He pats himself down, checking that he has his wallet. “I’ll call the school and let them know we can’t make it.”

“Luhan!”Minseok snaps, sitting up now.”Please, just go.Having you here isn’t going to make me heal faster.”

He feels like he’s been slapped.Minseok looks apologetic but Luhan doesn’t stick around to hear it, slamming the bathroom door behind him with more force than necessary.He forgoes a shower, brushing his teeth and running a wet hand through his hair before opening the door and nearly tripping over Minseok’s legs. The other boy stands up when he sees him, Luhan’s duffel in his hands. “All set?”

Luhans nods stiffly, reaching for the bag but stop midway when Minseok reaches forward to smooth down a stubborn cowlick, palm soft against his forehead. “Luhan, I’m sorry for what I said back there, it came off wrong.I’d just feel terrible if you missed out on this trip because of me.Go, have fun.If there’s any problem,I’ll go to the neighbours.So just don’t worry.”

“Promise you’ll call if it gets worse?” Luhan takes the bag,suppressing a shiver when their fingertips brush.Minseok nods again, giving him a smile. “Hurry, you’ll be late.”

Luhan orders food for Minseok on the bus, sweet talking the owner into making a delivery this early in the morning.Beijing has just started it’s early morning bustle but the bus terminal is still mostly empty apart from his class. Yifan waves him over, muffling a yawn into his scarf. Kyunsgoon is asleep against his shoulder and Luhan notes that Yifan has draped his jacket over her.Disgusting.He plops into the seat beside him, reaching for his water. “Morning.”

“Morning.” Yifan yawns again, blinking sleepily at him. “Where’s Minseok?”

“Sick. Probably won’t be coming.” Luhan takes up residence on Yifan’s other shoulder, tugging his hood up. “Wake me up when the bus arrives.”

Yifan interrupts his light slumber in what feels like minutes, gesturing to where the teacher is calling for them all to line up.Luhan makes his way to the front to explain the issue with Minseok.The teacher merely grunts in response and Luhan resumes his place in the back of the line.He’s got his ticket and is ready to board when he hears a small commotion over on the platform.Yifan is arguing loudly with the ticket counter girl. “Her ticket was booked a week ago, check again.”

Kyungsoon has her hands fisted at her sides, looking like she’s five seconds away from punching something as the frazzled ticket girl re-checks her computer. “I’m sorry sir but there’s no Ms.Do on the register.”

Their teacher huffs. “I told you to go buy the ticket in person, something always goes wrong on the websites.” He turns back to the ticket girl. ‘Are there any seats available?One of our students couldn’t make it, give her his seat.”

The ticket girl looks apologetic. ‘I’m sorry sir, I just sold the last ticket. The train is booked full.”

“This is _bullshit_.” Yifan has one large palm resting on a visibly upset Kyungsoon’s waist. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“You could take tomorrow’s train.” The ticket girl offers but they all ignore her.Luhan grapples with uncertainty before holding out his own ticket. “Go.”

Kyungsoon looks shocked. “Luhan-ge, I can’t take this, what will you do?”

Luhan waves off her protests, shoving it into her hands. “It’s better, this way I can look after Minseok. If he feels better, we’ll take the train down tomorrow.” He looks to their teacher for approval, getting only a shrug in response. “Doesn't matter much to me. Hurry up and board then, you two.” He heads for the train doors, Kyungsoon following in his wake after giving Luhan a fiercely tight hug and even Yifan gives him a grateful pat on the shoulder. Luhan waves until the train pulls from the station, heading to the parking lot to find a bus.

He gets a call midway and frowns when he sees it’s from the restaurant. “Is everything okay, _po po_? I told you I’d pay for the food later.”

“That’s not the issue, I sent the boy out to deliver the food but he says no one’s answering the buzzer.” Luhan frowns at that, tugging on the bus wire for his stop. “Tell him to stay, I’ll be there in five minutes.”

The delivery boy is all too glad to hand off the food to him and Luhan struggles to maneuver upstairs with his hands full.No one answers the door when rings the bell and his concern grows as he fumbles one handedly with the keys.

“Minseok?” he calls softly, kicking his shoes off as he makes his way inside.There’s no reply and he frowns.Minseok’s bedroom is empty and so is the bathroom and the living room.It’s only when he turns on his heel that he smells it.

Sweet, musky and oh-so-tempting, the scent beckons him and he follows to where it leads to his bedroom door.He’s breathing hard as he fumbles with the doorknob, all his senses on alert as he grips it tight enough to leave an imprint.A part of his mind is raising red flags, recognizing that something’s very seriously off here but Luhan throws the door open anyways, just eager to get to the source of that wondrous smell.

The sight that meets him has him lurching, knees almost giving way.Minseok is on the bed, naked save for a shirt- _Luhan’s_ shirt.- and rutting against the sheets, the desperate smack of his hips against the mattress loud in the room, intermingling with his desperate gasps.His legs looks beautiful from here, porcelain and smooth, the tantalizing round curve of his ass and something in Luhan roars at him to get over there, grip those narrows hips hard enough to bruise and mark his territory.Minseok takes that moment to turn his face from where it had been pressed against the pillow,eyes unfocused and Luhan gets the feeling that Minseok is looking right through him.Minseok’s body twists to the side and Luhan groans when he sees his pretty pink fingers are wrapped around his cock.The sound seems to stir Minseok as he shifts, makes eye contact.His eyes widen, mouth falling open. “Luhan.” It’s soft, almost a whisper but Luhan’s hyperaware of every sound, every movement Minseok’s making right now and he hears it clearly.Minseok speaks again, his voice stronger now “Luhan, you need to _leave_ ”

The words barely register for Luhan, drowned out by the roaring voice in his head, telling him to go over and pin Minseok to the mattress, kiss him breathless.His hand is still clutched tight around the bags of food, plastic cutting into his palm but he barely notices, so preoccupied with the display in front of him.He moves forward, the smell beckoning him as he drags his feet slowly, transfixed.Minseok is speaking again but Luhan doesn’t hear,as he stands close enough to make out every eyelash that fans over Minseok’s cheekbone, the shine of his skin, the bob of his adam’s apple as he swallows. Luhan reaches forward to touch.

Minseok rears back, expression going from desperate to frightened. “Luhan, please, you need to _go_.” Luhan freezes, hands still outstretched as he watches tears leak out the corner of the other boy’s eyes. He doesn’t know how but he stumbles back, food bag falling from his grip.It’s one of the hardest thing he’s ever done, forcing himself away from Minseok when every cell in his body is screaming for him to get closer.He breaks into a run, knocking into a wall as he fumbles for his shoes, needing to get out of the apartment, away from whatever has him acting like this.

His head clears some as he gets outside, taking harsh breaths of the polluted Beijing air.His hands are still trembling as he walks to a nearby park, stopping only to buy some tea, more for his hands to have something to hold than to drink.He finds a secluded area and settles down in the shade of a tree, leaves crunching under his legs.

He tries to gather his thoughts, still a bit lightheaded from earlier.Minseok had been sick earlier this morning and just two hours later he was-. Luhan flushes red as he recalls the image of his normally shy roommate looking so wanton and wrecked.And that _smell_.Luhan had never experienced anything like it before. He wanted more of it, to the point where it overwhelmed his senses.The thought is almost frightening.

“But what is it?” he asks aloud, startling a group of children playing nearby who give him strange looks before running off. He has a sneaking suspicion as to the origin of Minseok’s behaviour but it makes no sense.Minseok is a beta, it is physically impossible for him to have a heat.At least that’s what Luhan remembers from sixth grade health class.But no other explanation seems plausible.He rummages in his shorts for his phone, clicking number one on his speed dial.

Yifan picks up after four rings, voice sleepy and Luhan feels only briefly guilty for interrupting his friend’s attempts at resting on the train. “Luhan?” Yifan’s voice is groggy and confused. “Everything okay?”  
“Yifan, last year when Jia went into heat with you, what was it like?” There’s silence on the other end and Luhan thinks Yifan might have fallen back asleep until the other clears his throat, sounding a bit more awake now. “What?”

“Just tell me.” There’s more silence before Yifan shifts, a clatter that must be the door of the train compartment closing. “Well, it was sudden, um.She was burning up all day and acting really odd.”

“Was there any kind of smell?”

“Yeah, we learnt about it in health class, remember? Pheromones that serve as aphrodisiacs.” Yifan’s voice takes on an almost dreamy tone. ‘It was amazing.”

Luhan would normally tease but he’s too busy processing what he’s just heard, confirming his suspicions.Minseok is an omega. He hangs up abruptly, phone flopping into his lap as he leans against the trunk of the tree behind him, trying to figure out what to do.

He eventually leaves the park, once the parents start whispering amongst themselves and giving him strange looks.He wanders around the markets, stopping to buy some noodles from a street vendor.The afternoon sun is hot on his neck as he slumps on a bench to eat and he knows he’ll have to go back sooner or later.An advertisement catches his eye and he squints to make out the lettering.It’s a pretty model holding a bottle of Omegalite, the text at the bottom boasting that it contains 12 essential vitamins to help replenish the system post-heats.Luhan tosses the styrofoam food container away, hesitating only briefly before entering the convenience store across the street.

He leaves with the drink and some other vitamins the lady over the counter had suggested, giving him a knowing wink as he blushed and stammered out his request.”The first one’s always the hardest.” she’d assured him ,ringing up his purchases. ‘You just be a good mate and be there for them.”

Luhan hadn’t bothered correcting her, just flushed an even darker shade of red. He’s barely come to grips with the fact that Minseok’s an omega, the idea of mating is just making him lightheaded.He drags his feet on the walk back to the apartment, trying to stall for time.All too soon he’s standing in front of the chipped wood of his apartment door, having a moment of internal panic before he finally steels himself and twists the doorknob.As a last precaution he tugs his shirt collar over his noise.

The apartment is silent as he enters and he hesitantly calls for Minseok, getting no response.The light is on in the bathroom though and he decides to wait in the living room.He’s not quite sure if he can handle going back into his room yet.He’s pretty sure he won’t be able to look at his bed the same way for a long time. The sound of a door opening has him tensing again, mentally counting the number of steps as someone makes their way towards the living room. There’s a pause and then he hears Minseok speak, his voice quiet. “I opened up the windows to air the place out, you don’t have to worry.’

 

He belatedly realized his face is still half covered and lets his shirt collar drop. Minseok is standing in front of him, hands fiddling with the too long-sleeves of his hoodie as he stares straight down.And Luhan feels a sudden rush of sympathy.If the earlier incident had been embarrassing for him then he can't begin to imagine how Minseok is feeling.He clears his throat, the noise loud in the awkward silence of the room.He thrusts out the hand still holding the plastic bag, trying to keep his voice casual. "I got you some supplies." he stutters out. Minseok hesitates before taking the bag. He rustles through it, pulling out the drink and Luhan peeks up to see his reaction. Minseok has a small smile on his face but then he goes serious again. "So you figured it out."

"It was kind of hard not to." Luhan admits, finding the courage to meet the other's gaze.Minseok looks resigned as he twists the cap off the bottle and takes a drink. "I owe you an explanation I guess." His hand trembles as he sets the bottle down and Luhan wants to reach over and hold it. He refrains. "Have you eaten?"

The food Luhan had sent for in the morning is retrieved and they reheat it in silence. Luhan tries not to stare at the small mountain of meat Minseok has on his plate, doubting whether the small man will be able to even put away about a quarter of that.They sit across from each other at the low dining table in the living room, their feet accidentally brushing under the table and they both tense. Minseok pulls away first, coughing slightly as he pokes at his rice with his spoon. "So. Earlier today, that was-you walked in on my heat." The silence after that is so horrendously awkward that Luhan briefly considers stabbing himself with his chopsticks. Minseok, brave soul that he is, soldiers on. "So yeah.I'm an omega."

More silence and Luhan shoves a spoonful of rice in his mouth in lieu of anything better to do.Immediately he starts choking, a piece of chilli had snuck in and his mouth burns from the spice. Minseok is visibly amused as he watches Luhan chug down his glass of water, passing over a napkin. Luhan flushes as he cleans up. 'Okay.You're an omega,Right." Minseok nods. "But then- your paperwork. They say you're a beta."

"Ah." Minseok has switched from fiddling with his sleeves to tapping his cutlery against the plate, a rhythmic clink of metal against ceramic. "That's where it gets a bit complicated."

"Our University holds the senior exchange trips every year and it takes a lot of work to qualify for the spot, you have to put in hours of extracurricular work, maintain at least a 3.5 GPA and do a certain number of language hours. You basically have to start working for it from your freshman year.But there's a lot of perks to it,especially the language experience. I busted my ass to pay for it and finally got confirmed for a spot in my junior year." Minseok pauses then to take a bite of his still untouched food, chewing slowly as he tries to find the words in Mandarin. "But then there was an incident with that year's senior exchange trip.An underage omega met a guy in Germany, fell in love and mated with him.Her parents sued the school for negligence and it was a huge mess. The school decided to ban all omegas from going on official trips."

"That makes no sense." Luhan can't believe a policy like that could ever be put into place in this day and age. "Didn't people protest?"

"We tried but we were all threatened by the school admins if we didn't drop it. Our university is pretty exclusive and they can yank our placement at any time." Minseok is getting more animated now, food once again ignored as he speaks, voice getting louder the more indignant he gets. "So we had put in all this work and we weren't going to get anything out of it."  
"So how did you end up here then?"

Minseok looks a bit sheepish now. "I had a friend who worked in the school office. I bribed him to get into the records and change my status paperwork. Forged government documents with a bit more bribing. The college hands us over to the Chinese trip admins once we land so it wasn't hard to fool them, they only have the forged documents to go by."

Luhan considers this. "But your classmates? Wouldn't they have figured it out?"

"It pays to be well liked. They're covering for me. I have friends back home who have my parents convinced I'm in Busan for a six month internship."

Luhan has to grudgingly give Minseok credit for how well he'd organized this entire affair but he's still mostly horrified. "Minseok, don't take this the wrong way, but are you fucking _insane_? Do you realise the trouble you'd be in if they found out.Lying on your immigration paperwork is illegal, you could be jailed for this."

 

"I'm aware of that, thanks." Minseok snaps back, clearly not appreciating being scolded. "I have it handled." Luhan gives him a look. "Or did." He runs a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "I was on suppressants for my heat cycles. This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Do you know what went wrong?" Luhan is still a bit squeamish about the whole heat thing but if Minseok's up for discussing it, then hey. Minseok nods, reaching for the jug and Luhan notices that he's drained almost three quarters of it. "Yeah. Remember that day we went to the outdoor markets for lunch?" Luhan nods, slightly concerned as he watches Minseok ignore the glass and chug directly from the jug. "I took the pills after lunch and then threw up not long after." That had been an awful day, the two of them fighting over the bathroom, Luhan's poor mother having to keep the windows open to air out the smell. "I was puking all that weekend so I'm guessing my pills didn't dissolve properly. So.Here we are." He's eyeing Luhan's plate. "Are you going to finish that?’

Luhan notes with some surprise that Minseok has managed to finish his large serving and is now eying Luhan's stir fry with a predatory gleam. He pushes it over. " So, what are we going to do about this?"

Minseok pauses mid chew. "We?"

Luhan blushes, focusing very intently on the chilli sauce bottle. "I mean, it's not like I'm going to report you or anything. If you need me to help you out in any way, then I'm willing."

There's silence and Luhan nearly jumps when he feels Minseok's hand cover his own. He looks touched. "Thank you. If I need anything, I'll let you know.You've already been really great about this considering it was a complete shock"

Something sizzles between them as they lock eyes and Luhan suddenly smells it again, that same sweet scent from before, albeit slightly fainter. Minseok's eyes widen and he lets go quickly. "I think you should go now."

Luhan stumbles to his feet, fighting against the voice in his head that demands he crawl into Minseok's lap. Minseok also gets up, heading for his room and Luhan clears up the remaining plates.

  
***  


Very little changes after The Incident. Minseok seems intent on never mentioning it again and Luhan follows suit. His parents had been clueless when they'd returned from their weekend away, not even his sharp nosed mother picking up on anything amiss in the air. Luhan's room had been cleaned by Minseok and he hasn't seen the bedsheets from that day ever since. It's almost a relief since he can barely lie down in it without his mind wandering back to Minseok in it and he inevitably has to roll out to go take a cold shower.

The first week back at school he’d caught the Korean students staring at him several times, each incident extremely unnerving.It isn’t until he’s cornered in the bathroom by Sehun, Jongdae and Chanyeol that he finds out why. 

“Look,” Jongdae is a few inches shorter than Luhan so his crossed arms and attempts to look authoritative are a bit ridiculous.The six foot brooding twin towers of Chanyeol and Sehun are a bit more effective. “We know you know about Minseok hyung. You keep quiet about this or-”

“Or what?” Luhan snaps, thoroughly fed up with this impromptu interrogation. “Beating me up won’t help him if he gets arrested.” Sehun steps forward and Luhan glowers at him. “Relax, I’m not going to report him. I told him that already.”

Jongdae suddenly looks sheepish, scratching at his head. “Ah okay, we didn’t know that. Sorry.” He steps aside to let Luhan pass. “We’re all just worried for Minseok hyung.”

“I get it.” Luhan rifles through his bag for his phone, cursing when he sees that he’s already seven minutes late for his next lecture. “I don’t want him to get into trouble any more than you.”  
“Please don’t tell him we said anything!” Chanyeol yells after him and Luhan just waves in response. Judging by the glares Minseok shoots his three companions all throughout lunch, Luhan guesses he found out anyways.

They slowly transition back into their regular interactions, late night football viewings and all nighters sitting together in the living room to complete assignments, Minseok managing to concoct amazing coffee from the powdered packets Luhan’s dad swipes from his office break room.If there’s any lingering awkwardness between them, they studiously ignore it. Luhan actually thinks everything will be fine.

Until Minseok knocks on his bedroom door two weeks later, poking his head in. “Can we talk?”

Luhan tugs out his earphones, scooting back on the bed to make room. “Sure.” Minseok pads over, the hems of his sweatpants too long for him and an equally baggy hoodie on top.He looks like a very fluffy penguin. Said penguin takes a seat on the bed, crossing his legs underneath him and it only serves to make him look smaller. He’s fiddling with his sleeves, something Luhan now knows to be a nervous habit of his. “Everything okay?”  
“It’s fine.” Minseok assures him. “Well.Kind of. I need to ask you for a favour.”

Luhan doesn't hesitate. “Anything.”

Minseok worries at his bottom lip. “Maybe you should know what I’m asking first before deciding.”  
He digs into his pockets, tugging out a round circle of plastic which he passes over to Luhan.Inside the circle are several small pills, each in it’s own row separated by colour. “Those are my suppressants.” He points at the first row containing white pills. “Those are the hormone regulators. They keep the heat from coming on. The green pills are pheromone suppressors.And the red ones are what we call binders.It’s complicated but essentially they help the first two work together. You have to take one binder every other day and the two others the day before that.I started taking these a few months before I came here so I could get used to them and give them time to work.They were doing their job just fine up till the puking weekend happened.”

“Clearly we should never let Yifan pick the lunch spot.” Luhan jokes, getting a small smile in response. “So, what were you saying?’

“Well, I calculated and the day of the food poisoning, I took a red pill which I threw up. If it had been a green or white one I would still have some leeway but missing a binder fucks the entire cycle up. That’s why my heat happened, the pills weren’t doing their job properly.”

“Ah.” Luhan passes back the packet. “So what does this have to do with me?”

Minseok looks nervous now. “I called my doctor in Korea to ask what I should do about it and he said I need to start over but it’s going to be just like before, it’ll take me time to readjust. There’s no guarantee that they’ll kick in before next month and hot flashes in between are also going to a pain to deal with.” Minseok takes a deep breath, seemingly steeling himself for something. “I thought that it would be better if I… went through my next heat with a partner.To make it break faster.”

Luhan can feel his cheeks burning. “Okay.” he says dumbly and Minseok gives him a searching look. Then something clicks. “Wait, you mean _me_?” He’s doing a bad job of keeping his voice down. “You want me to sleep with you?”

He finds himself on his back, Minseok’s hands clamped over his mouth as the other stares at the door, trying to reassure himself that no one else had heard. “Idiot.” he hisses, moving his hands away. “Do you want to tell the entire building?”

Luhan just lies there, completely unwilling to believe that this is his life.His gorgeous aloof secretly-an-omega pen pal is asking him to fuck him.He half expects a camera crew to pop out of nowhere and announce that he’s been pranked.Instead it’s just Minseok above him, eyes downcast now. “Look, I’m not pressuring you.Please don’t feel obligated to do this or anything.It  
s just that you’re the alpha I’m closest with -besides Chen but I’m not letting him near me- and you were great about everything last time. I trust you to take care of me.” His eyes flit up to meet Luhan’s gaze. “If you want to.”

Luhan already knows his answer. “I’ll do it.” Minseok looks a bit surprised and Luhan smiles, trying to remain casual. “Hey, you’re my host student. Gotta look out for you.”

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t in the official requirements.” Minseok looks more at ease now, smirk playful. They smile at each other until Minseok shifts and they both become aware that, oh yeah, he’s still kind of sitting on Luhan. They quickly separate, Minseok coughing awkwardly as he makes his way to the door. “Good night then.”

Luhan waits until he’s certain the door has clicked shut before rolling over onto his stomach and screaming into his pillow.

  
***  


To say Luhan is nervous is an understatement.He’s fucking _terrified_. He’s no virgin, sure but he’s never been anyone’s heat partner.He sincerely regrets sleeping through his 8th grade health classes as he spends the next few weeks trying to read up as much as he can. This proves to be a pretty terrible idea since every website has a giant glaring list of potential mishaps. Luhan makes it as far as ‘Accidental tearing’ before he has to shut his laptop off and go cuddle his neighbour's cat to calm down. He just ends up with three scratches down his neck.

He knows he’s finally desperate when he goes to ask Yifan for help. Extricating the taller man from Kyungsoon’s side is a challenge in itself but he finally manages to get the other to meet him at their favorite chicken place. Yifan pokes him in the head with a chopstick. “What’s the matter? You look like shit.”

“Thanks for that.” Luhan knows he’s right. In a very poorly thought out decision, he’d turned to porn to get an idea of what a heat was like.Turns out cold showers at 3am aren’t conducive for a great night’s sleep. He resists the urge to use his placemat as a pillow, instead trying to focus on the task at hand. “Tell me what you know about heats.”

There's an awkward silence.Yifan drops his chopsticks. “ _Again_?” He sounds more incredulous than embarrassed. ‘God Luhan if you’re so curious about this why ask me, I’m a beta.Go to Yixing or something.”

“No, no, I need to know about...sleeping.With someone.During heats.” He’d been planning on saving his beer for when the chicken arrived but there’s no way he’ll get through this without a little liquid courage. Yifan watches him swig half the bottle, looking mildly concerned. “Is there a reason this topic is suddenly so interesting for you?”

“ I met someone.” He holds a hand up to block Yifan’s delighted smile, pressing the beer to his forehead. “Please don’t tease, just tell me what you know.”

He must really look terrible because Yifan assents, reaching to unscrew his own beer. “We’re going to need to be drunk for this.”

By the time he stumbles back home, he’s six beer in and has a messily scribbled checklist of essential supplies. Talking with Yifan had actually been a pretty good idea, the way he’d described a heat didn’t seem all that bad. Luhan is actually feeling a bit better as he fumbles with his keys, humming an old Jay Chou ballad under his breath.

Minseok is in the living room, focusing very intently on some variety show and Luhan kicks his shoes off, flopping down on the couch beside him. The other wrinkles his nose slightly. “Have you been drinking?”

“Had chicken with Fanfan.” he mumbles, snuggling deeper into Minseok’s side, alcohol making him uncharacteristically bold. Minseok tenses but doesn’t move away and Luhan has a quick internal celebration.He’s almost drifted off when Minseok speaks again. “Can you skip classes tomorrow?”

“Why?” Luhan slurs out, more focused on finding a comfortable place on Minseok’s arm to rest his head on.Minseok jerks away and Luhan leans back, confused. “I-I did the calculations and I think my heat’s going to come either tomorrow or the day after.It’s better if we’re close by when it does.”

Luhan is suddenly not so tired. “Oh.” he croaks out, moving to sit up. “Are you sure?” Minseok nods and Luhan clears his throat, focusing on his kneecaps. “Sure, I’ll skip.”

“Great. Can you ask Yifan to cover for us? Tell your mom we’ll be at his house for the weekend.” Minseok stands then, stretching his arms above his head so that his shirt rides up. “I’ve handled everything else, so don’t worry.”

“Worried? Me?” Luhan’s laugh sounds more like bleating,even to his own ears. “It’ll be fine. You should probably take vitamins or something though right? I read that somewhere.”

Minseok stares at him before his face splits into a grin. “Have you been doing _research_?”

Luhan covers his face with a cushion. “I just wanted to be prepared.” he protests, words muffled. He hears Minseok laugh quietly. “You’re cute.”

He stays on the couch long after Minseok’s left, not sure if the fluttering feeling in his stomach is nerves or elation from being called cute. His mom suggests indigestion.

  
***  


Minseok had been a lot more thorough in his preparations than Luhan had expected. They leave the house that morning with their backpacks, kissing Luhan’s mom goodbye. A few blocks away Minseok hails a cab and gives him an address. They sit silently in the backseat, Minseok staring out of the window the entire journey.Their cabbie gives them a strange look when he finally pulls up outside their destination, muttering under his breath as he counts out their change.Luhan only realises why once he turns around and gets a good look at where they are.

A heat hotel. Or a ‘couple retreat’ as the sign tastefully proclaims but everyone knows what these are actually for.He skulks behind Minseok as they walk inside, grip tightening on his backpack as he glances around suspiciously. It doesn’t look as sketchy as he’d thought, the lobby is clean with minimal decor and the receptionist barely glances at them as she passes Minseok their room key.  
The ride up on the elevator is once again quiet but with an added dose of awkward tension that only gets worse once they get to their room.Minseok drops his bag on the floor, mumbling something about needing the bathroom.Luhan gingerly sits down on the bed, scanning the sheets for any strange substances.He relaxes when he finds now, stretching lazily.His hand knocks something hard under the pillow and he fishes around to find it.It’s a bottle of lube the size of his forearm.He immediately shoves it back, all his earlier panic roaring back.

Minseok comes out of the bathroom, quirking an eyebrow at him. “I half expected you’d have run out of here while I was gone.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”. Minseok hums noncommittally, pulling out his laptop. “We still have some time. Wanna watch a movie?”

It feels absurdly normal to be stretched out alongside Minseok as they watch the latest Stephen Chow flick, almost like being back home.Minseok seems totally at ease as he laughs along to the dialogue, occasionally poking Luhan for an explanation when he misses the joke. Pretty soon the credits are rolling and Minseok rolls over on his side. “That was funny. We should have gone and seen it in theatres.”

“I offered. You said Chen had made other plans. “ Luhan may or may not still be grumpy about this. “You always had other plans when I offered.”

“I’m sorry.” Minseok sounds sincere. “Maybe we can try going sometime soon?”

It’s a bit odd to feel like you’re being asked out on a date when you’re supposed to be sleeping with said person in an hour or so. “Only us.” Minseok rolls over onto his back, propping his hands behind his head. “Of course that depends on how well today goes.”

“So you’re giving me a grade at the end of this?” Minseok snorts, shaking his head. “Not a grade. Think of it as more of an...incentive.”

Are they flirting? This feels like flirting. Luhan wracks his brain for a witty response finding none.Instead he yawns.Minseok throws a pillow at him. “Rest.We have time.”

He’s not sure how he manages to fall asleep but it’s late afternoon when he wakes, sunlight visible even through the thick curtains.The bed is empty and he sits up, looking around the room for Minseok.Then he smells it, that same sweet aroma from a month back and he tenses. The sound of the bathroom door opening startles him as Minseok renters the room, now only clad in a tank top and his jeans.He smiles when he sees him awake . “You have good timing.It just started.”

Instantly Luhan is bolting from the bed, moving to stand in front of Minseok. His hands hover awkwardly for a second before he places one on Minseok’s forehead. “You’re burning up.”

“They’re called heats for a reason.” Minseok’s voice sounds fainter now and he’s sweating, tugging the fabric of his tank away from his skin. “Can we move to the bed?” Luhan quickly moves out of the way, guiding Minseok back until he’s lying against the sheets. After a few moments of silence, he cracks an eye open, giving Luhan a pointed glance. ‘Aren’t you going to do something?”

Luhan hesitates and Minseok takes his hands, guiding them to the hem of his tank.Luhan complies, tugging it up and over gently, eyes eagerly taking in the defined muscles of Minseok’s abdomen, the porcelain of his chest, his flushed nipples. Minseok lifts his hips up and oh right. Pants.The jeans come off slower and Luhan grumbles at Minseok for wearing his tightest jeans on today of all days. They eventually come off to reveal reveal pale skin and muscular thighs and _oh_. Minseok had eschewed underwear.

“My eyes are up here.” the other grumbles after watching Luhan have a staring contest with his penis for a good thirty seconds. Luhan quickly looks away, blushing red to the roots of his hair and Minseok laughs, reaching over to hook two fingers in the waistband of his sweats and tug. “Why am I the only one who’s naked?”

“I’m not as good looking.” Luhan mumbles but complies, feel uncharacteristically shy with Minseok watching him. He keeps his underwear on but the other doesn’t protest, merely shifting so his legs are on either side of Luhan now. Luhan hesitates, places a hand on his thigh and Minseok sighs softly at the touch.He’s even warmer now, hair matted to his forehead and the room stinks of pheromones . Luhan isn’t hard yet but fast approaching as he watches Minseok fist his cock, head thrown back and the sight makes his breath stutter.Minseok speaks then, eyes still closed. ‘You can touch too, you know.”  
It’s like he’d been silently waiting for the permission and now that he has it, he has no clue where to start.His hands trace along the sharp curves of Minseok’s collarbones, maps out the solid planes of his chest.Minseok jerks when Luhan gives his nipple an experimental tug, moaning his encouragement. “Rougher.” he pants as Luhan starts teasing in earnest. “I can handle it.”

And Luhan is more than happy to comply, almost achingly hard now as he ruts against Minseok’s thigh, his mouth pressing kisses to Minseok’s stomach, before he bites down, sucks dark bruises all over the pale skin.He moves down to Minseok’s thighs, marking the soft skin as he goes along until Minseok twists impatiently, locking his thighs tight around his neck. ‘Touch me, goddamnit.”

So Luhan relents and moves to take Minseok’s cock in hand. It’s a thick piece, the weight of it heavy against his palm as he strokes him. He notes idly that it’s the same shade of pink as Minseok’s fingers, currently clenched tight on Luhan’s arm as he moans. His orgasm catches them both off guard, just a few quick pumps and he’s coming into Luhan’s fist. He’s still hard though and more impatient now as he sits up, rummaging through the nightstand.

“Here.” he rasps, tossing a foil square at him. Luhan fumbles with the wrapper, almost nicking himself with one sharp corner before he finally manages to rip it open.His cock is aching, boxers ruined as he kicks them off the bed.He groans as he strokes himself, adjusting the base of the condom so that it’ll expand along with his knot.He hears Minseok whine at him to hurry up and turns to find that the other has propped himself up on his hand and knees, looking over his shoulder expectantly. The sight has Luhan almost coming right then and there and he has to take a deep breath to compose himself, fit his hands on Minseok’s hips as he gets into position.

Now he knows what Minseok was up to in the bathroom.The lube and his own natural lubrication let him easily push two fingers in and crook them searching for that one spot that will make Minseok scream. The omega seems to have a different idea, wiggling away and spreading his knees further. “I can take it,just go.”

The first slide in has them both gasping, Minseok arching back into Luhan as he holds still, trying to give the other time to adjust. “Move!” Minseok chokes out and Luhan has been worked up for too long now.The pace he starts is steady, angling Minseok’s hips backwards until he finds the one angle that makes him whine and clench impossibly tight around his cock.And Luhan has had sex before but never like this, never this tinged with heat and desperation, the object of his desire murmuring filthy praises of ‘yes,yes there, perfect, god Luhan”, spurring him on faster. He knows he’s not going to last, his knot already swelling and catching on the rim as he thrusts in and he brings a hand around to Minseok’s front, stroke him in time to each slide out.

They switch places, Luhan leaning against the headboard watching as Minseok slowly slides down onto his cock, the slow burn making him hiss.Once he reaches the knot, Luhan sees him hesitate and places a comforting hand on his hip.Minseok laughs then, looking visibly nervous for the first time all day. “I’ve done this before but it takes some effort.”

“I’ve got you.” Luhan thrusts up slowly, watching Minseok’s facial expressions for any sign of discomfort as he slowly pushes in, his knot catching at the rim.Minseok’s grip is white knuckled on his shoulders as he pushes his hips back, angles himself just right and the whole of the knot is in.  
Luhan feels like every part of him is buzzing, every cell screaming at him to move but he keeps himself still, watching Minseok breathe harshly as he tries to adjust. ‘Fuck, you’re big.”

“Sorry?” Luhan offers. Minseok shakes his head huffing out a laugh as he leans back, balancing his weight on Luhan’s legs.Slowly he begins to rotate his hips and they both moan at the movement. Minseok seems to have found the right angle as his movements pick up and he laughs breathlessly. ‘Don’t be sorry at all.”

There’s not much Luhan can do at this angle other than watch, enraptured by Minseok’s very existence in that moment.Their eyes meet and Luhan leans forward almost instinctively, seeking.  
Minseok turns his head at the last second, Luhan's lips brushing his jaw instead. Luhan only has a second to feel disappointed before Minseok’s hands find his shoulders, squeezing hard enough to hurt as he comes, his moan muffled into Luhan’s neck. He follows soon after, wave after wave of pleasure pouring over him as he holds Minseok tight, savors the closeness for as long as he can.

Afterwards is almost too intimate, the two of them lying front to back, Luhan’s knot still connecting them.Minseok is exhausted but already looking better his temperature reduced. “I think it’ll be a short one this time” he mumbles, eyelids drooping. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to put up with me for much longer.”

“But I _want_ to.” Luhan murmurs, too low to be heard by a now sleeping Minseok.He smooths back a few stray hairs from the other’s forehead, memorizing the beauty of his features in repose and something in his chest aches. _I’m screwed._ he thinks. What had started as a fascination with a stranger across the ocean turned into a slight infatuation with the boy in the room across the hall.But now? Now when he watches Minseok sleep, one hand wrapped loosely around Luhan’s forearm, naked and vulnerable but so trusting...it makes this feel like so much more.But it seems like this is one sided. And in another two months Minseok will pack up and be out of his life.

“What have I gotten myself into?” he says out loud, the noise making Minseok stir but he doesn’t wake.Luhan spends the rest of the night flitting in and out of restless sleep, waking fully when Minseok crawls into his lap again somewhere around dawn, murmuring that he needs Luhan to take care of him again. And Luhan does.

  
***  



End file.
